RE: Favorite Scents and Lures???
Titleist,
Sorry, I wasn't that clear. I set up licking branches year around. All of these have scrapes below them, but I dont doctor the scrapes as much till late August. I do though doctor up the licking branches everytime I visit the area, whether it be in January or June. I always hit the licking branches with a bit of forehead gland scent. In my area I have watched bucks work these licking branches in the summer time. They don't mess with the scrape as much but they sure work those branches.
As for mock rubs, I take a hatchet with me and right before the bucks start shedding their velvet I make rubs with my hatchet by scraping off the bark then spraying the rub with Buckfever forehead gland scent. I just try to mimic an average rub for my area. I make sure not to touch this with my bare hands. I am usually in my full scent lok suit and am wearing rubber gloves and boots..... I dont want any human scent associated in that rub. I make my rubs at distances of 10-20-30 and even 40 yards if needed from my stand site...this way I have a visual signpost for the bucks and a sign for me judge my yardages very closely. This past year I had my archery buck come into my mock rub. His head was down at full trot...and his velvet had just been shed (some was still hanging) it was pretty cool to see this behavior in early season. He stopped and I got my shot. Of course I had set up right in his main travel path from his bed to feed. I doubt any of this would have worked without the summer survelance I had put in....watching him from afar. The forehead gland also serves as a nice scent on the ground level... especially if the wind is changing....I often mist the air with forehead gland scent in early season too....from my stands.. especially when I am hunting near bedding areas and the wind changes on me....as it often does in this mountainous country... fickle thermals and swirling winds...
I have had bucks come by these rubs, stop and check them out, even in the velvet. I even had a cow elk stop and smell one one time. She was just curious I guess, and it didnt spook her a bit.
Shed